Select Local Merchants

The experts at Art & Frame Express help customers tweak the colors and textures of each custom-framed project until it?s ready. This helps clients make informed decisions among the store?s simple and ornate frames before the professionals transform an oil painting, tapestry, or diploma into a wall-ready masterpiece. In addition to outlining artwork, the staff uses digital printing to generate archival-quality gicl?es, design photo collages, and restore photographs taken during the days when cameras ran on coal. They also pair homeowners with artwork and snap passport photos before international flights.

The winner of seven consecutive Best Custom Framing awards from CityVoter users, Masterpieces Fine Art & Custom Framing stocks more than 2,300 frames, including work by industry mainstay Larson-Juhl. Its skilled framers meld function and aesthetic form to secure works of art in everything from American hardwood to 22-karat-gold-leafing frames to metal handcuffs. Aside from framing, the staff also restores faded or creased photos to their original vivid states and brings photos to life by converting them into imitation oil paintings or watercolors that look like they were born from hours of meticulous brushstrokes.

Cuban-born Liliana Perez is as an accomplished artist who first caught the creative bug at the age of 6. Since then, she's had solo exhibitions across Chicago and New York, racked up a slew of awards, taught extensively, and adorned schools with her murals. She's even worked as a scenic artist at Steppenwolf, the Lyric Opera, and other top-tier theaters.
But Liliana knows that not everyone boasts that same extensive artistic background, and she knows that some people feel intimidated to pick up a paintbrush or pencil. That's why she offers relaxed BYOB painting lessons for small groups. During these sessions, she works to bring out the natural creativity in her students, who pick up technical skills while learning to trust their own artistic voices.

Sleep Zone ensures a peaceful night's rest by supplying customers with high-quality mattresses from Simmons and other brands. Orthopedic and memory foam mattresses come in a range of sizes, filling bedrooms with better surfaces to sleep on than a pile of clothing shaped like a womb. Sleep Zone also carries couches and tables for living rooms, dining room sets, and other furniture.

Jerry’s Artarama stockpiles a vast selection of art supplies for amateur and professional projects. Staff members roam the store, answering art questions and helping to track down hard-to-find supplies for any medium including wrapped canvases and invisible ink. The emporium also hosts workshops throughout the month to develop various painting techniques, as well as demos to meet and learn from instructors in a more informal setting.